Culture

The Insane Maps of Early North American Cartography

Early maps of North America include bizarre, made-up waterways.

March 27, 2018 3:02 pm

America borealis. Map of North America showing California as an island. From Heinrich Scherer's Geographia hierarchica, one of a seven volume set called Atlas Novus, first published between 1702 and 1710. The 180 maps in the collection were probably prepared around 1699-1700. This particular map is dated 1699 in the cartouche. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/UIG via Getty Images)

UIG via Getty Images

A new article in Atlas Obscura recounts the strange history of inaccurate North American waterways. In the 16th, 17th, and 18th Centuries, it was relatively common for cartographers to include a northwest sea, river or straight, that cut across the United States. These maps, of course, matched up more closely with imperialist aspirations than with any gathered evidence. Any passageway across the United States would have been incredibly valuable to the British and French economically, which encouraged cartographers to choose myths and hearsay in lieu of real evidence. Once explorers began visiting more of what is now the US, these maps disappeared.